Presidential General Election Beginning to Take Shape

Tuesday’s Presidential primaries saw Marco Rubio losing Florida, forcing him to drop out of the race, while John Kasich hung in there by winning his home state of Ohio. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continued to widen her delegate lead over Bernie Sanders.

For a deeper analysis of what this all means, Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson talked to Arthur Lupia from the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies.

Lupia told Henderson in order for Sanders to win the nomination he would have to win 70 percent of the remaining delegates. Even with that grim prognosis, Lupia says, “Sanders is the first voice in a generation to give a voice to people on the far left,” According to Lupia, Sanders has also changed the tone of the campaign by forcing Clinton to change her centrist campaign message. Overall though, Lupia feels that, “she’s finding a little bit of a comfort zone” and becoming a better campaigner.

Similar to the Democratic side, Donald Trump too, is reshaping the message of the Republican Party. Lupia says that Trump is able to, “tap into real sources of anxiety” in the Republican Party. Lupia feels that while many “movement conservatives want smaller government” Trump drives a wedge into the party by introducing new issues. The only question left is whether Trump can build a coalition with the Republican establishment.

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